A kids’ sack race was one of many activities at Saturday’s Willowtown fair, which was blessed by perfect weather. Video, photos, and more text after the jump.

Batman greeted children to the Jumpy Castle.

Iris Cafe offered a tempting array of salads, sandwiches, and sweets.

Maio, of Waterfront Wines & Spirits, prepares to pour some of Brooklyn Oenology’s 2010 Social Club White, made with chardonnay grapes from the North Fork of Long Island and the Finger Lakes region.

Thursday, May 17 starting at 7;00 p.m. there will be a Brazilian dance party at Pier 1 (enter at foot of Old Fulton Street), Brooklyn Bridge Park, featuring Nation Beat (see video after the jump), Maracatu New York, and DJ Greg Caz. Admission to the party is free; food and drinks will be available from vendors. More details are here.

This year’s Willowtown Fair, part of a growing tradition, will celebrate the lives of two women who made great contributions to the life of that community, and will feature a wine tasting, foood from Iris Cafe, bluegrass music, and fun for kids. Ben Bankson, President of the Willowtown Association, gives us the following:

The dedication of trees in memory of two longtime neighborhood residents and a wine tasting are among the features of the Willowtown Association’s annual Spring Fair to take place this Saturday, May 19, from noon to 5 p.m. the full length of Willow Place.

The trees memorialize Caroline Palestino, who died last June at age 92, and Mary Merz, who died last September at age 85. The dedication is set for 3 o’clock. Caroline lived her entire life in Willowtown. Her tree is in front of 10 Columbia Place, part of the Riverside apartment complex, where she was born. A native of Ohio, Mary was an architect who with her surviving husband Joe designed three of the contemporary houses on Willow Place. She was active in the Willowtown Association and largely responsible for its work in the greening of Columbia Place. Her tree is on State Street by the Palmetto Playground developed largely to her and Joe’s design.

The wine tasting is by Waterfront Wines & Spirits, a new shop at Joralemon and Furman streets. It will take place throughout the afternoon in the Alfred T. White Community Center at 26 Willow Place.

Other features of the fair include live blue-grass music by a group called the Five Deadly Venons, who also played at last year’s fair; food by Willowtown’s own Iris Café; races for both kids and adults; a Jumpy Castle; and a visit by a fire truck from Engine Co. 224.

Photo: Planners of the 2012 Willowtown Spring Fair are, from left, front row, Elise Pettus, Bill Newbury, Clare Brew, Linda De Rosa and Libby Cooper; and back row, Jeffery Streem and Ben Bankson.

Our Mr. J. and his cam were on hand at Pier 1 yesterday evening for the opening event in the Dance Party series co-sponsored by BRIC Arts Media and Brooklyn Bridge Park. As you can see, Karl got right into the funk groove. Don’t forget, next Thursday it’s Brazilian. Video after the jump.

The House Tour. The House Tour. The House Tour! More info at the Brooklyn Heights Association website.

There are several activities at Brooklyn Bridge Park this weekend. The Green Team meets tomorrow (Saturday, May 12) from 10:00 a.m. until noon. At the same time, there will be a MillionTreesNYC community tree giveaway on Pier 6, near the foot of Atlantic Avenue.

Also tomorrow, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bike New York will host a free street skills ride for adults and teens (bikes and helmets will be provided for those who need them) at the Pier 1 uplands near the foot of Old Fulton Street. At the same location on Sunday, starting at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Bike New York will give free learn to ride classes for adults and teens. You must pre-register for Bike New York classes through the linked website.

Don’t forget Theater 2020′s Comedy of Errors, tonight and tomorrow (Saturday) at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m., at the Cranberry Street Theater Space, Assumption Church, 55 Cranberry Street.

Photo: Judith Angel for BHA.

BRIC Arts Media Bklyn, in partnership with Brooklyn Bridge Park, is presenting a series of free dance parties at Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park the next three Thursday evenings starting at 7:00. The opening event, this Thursday, May 10, features legendary funk keyboardist Booker T. Jones, whose group, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, provided the backbone for Stax Records’ classic Memphis soul sound. Also on the bill is DJ Rich Medina.

The following Thursday, May 17, there will be a Brazilian dance party featuring Nation Beat, Brooklyn’s own Maracatu New York, and DJ Greg Caz. The final dance party, on May 24, will be a Cajun/Zydeco fais do-do with Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience and Jesse Lége & Bayou Brew.

Food and beverages will be available from these food trucks during all the dance parties: Morris Grilled Cheese, Kumquat Cupcakery, Rickshaw Dumplings, Kimchi Taco, and Pizza Moto.

The 1976 Montague Street Revitalization project offered grand plans for the ailing Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, and included numerous photographs of everyday life. Of course, some 36 years later, these casual B&W shots offer a cool triptych to a time gone by: the fashion, hairstyles and simply the way folks gathered back in the day.

We’re featuring Key Food here—nothing overtly dramatic, but entertaining for those very reasons. And below, the view at 106 Montague Street today. Who knows, a few decades from now, we’ll probably be smiling over how “vintage” these millennial images are.

For a campy walk down the aisles of 1960s & 1970s supermarkets, take a look here.

(Current photos: Chuck Taylor)

The annual St. Ann’s Puppet Parade—Brooklyn Heights’ own version of a kiddie Mardis Gras—made its way down Montague Street to the Promenade at 1 p.m. Monday, filling the streets with clowns, jugglers, 10-foot-tall marionette puppets and the rat-a-tat of percussion, accompanied by hundreds of pre-school, primary, middle and high school students.

Puppets were created in classes led by St. Ann’s teacher Ronnie Asbell at the private school located at 129 Pierrepont Street. (See a cavalcade of photos below.)

And if you’d like to relive past Puppet Parades via BHB coverage (of course you would): 2011 is here, 2010 here and 2009 here.

Check out video footage from BHB pal “Grumpy Bert” here.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

The Brooklyn Heights Cinema will showcase the “Rumur Films Retrospective” each Thursday evening in May, featuring five flicks by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, the pair behind Brooklyn-based production studio Rumur.

Galinsky & Hawley have been making innovative social documentaries for two decades, including 2011’s “Battle for Brooklyn” (showing at BHC May 31), a 93-minute doc that, according to New York magazine, shows “how Atlantic Yards used the pretense of democracy to enrich the powerful, but also energized actual citizens to fight the good fight.” Their other films comprise 1994’s “Half-Cocked” (May 3), 1999’s “Radiation” (May 10), 2002’s “Horns and Halos” (May 17) and 2005’s “Code 33” (May 24).

Kenn Lowy’s Brooklyn Heights Cinema is located at 70 Henry Street. More information is available here, with synopses of their films here.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the wonderfully novel Dekalb Market yet, the weekend is coming! This new community destination in Downtown Brooklyn—which was voted Best New York Architecture in 2011 by the New York Observer—is uniquely housed in a collection of salvaged shipping containers, and includes an incubator farm, weekend events, performances and a collection of 60+ eateries and work-sell spaces.

Coming up Saturday April 21 is Spring Cleaning Day, with such specialties as shaves, nails and Eco Living workshops. Sunday April 22 offers an Earth Day Seed & Garden Market and Urban Chicken Workshops. The Dekalb Market, which is open seven days a week through the summer, is located at 138 Willoughby Street and Flatbush Ave in 11201. Much more info is here.

In all, the 2012 season will offer a cornucopia of art, music, food and shopping, as well as the new Dekalb outdoor performance and event space, including a permanent beer & wine garden, “The Dekalb Farm,” dance parties, bike-in movie nights, roller derbies, stores, food shops and outdoor weekend vendors.

(Photo: Dekalb Market)

The next jocular, wonderfully educational Homer Fink’s Hidden Walking Tour takes place this coming Saturday, April 21, at 11 a.m. Learn about the odd, weird, controversial and amusing history of America’s First Suburb over a sprawling 90 minutes of fun, led by the faithful kingpin of the Brooklyn Heights Blog, Cobble Hill Blog and Brooklyn Bugle. More info is available by clicking here.

The Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday drew a crowd of parents and kids that started lining up to the entrance of the Pierrepont Playground by 9:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. event. Within 15 minutes, the line extended past 2 Montague Terrace all the way to Remsen Street. See Karl Junkersfeld’s action-packed video after the jump!

(Photos: Karl Hedlund)

The Spring Egg Hunt at Pierrepont Playground takes place Saturday, April 7 at 10 a.m. sharp. From my experience (my apartment has a view of the playground) it’s best to get there early, as the line to get in grows rapidly.

Ever wondered who was cooking pot roast on your antique stove in 1940? Who hid that stamp beneath the floorboards when you were gutting your Willow Street coop bedroom? How much that Middagh Street apartment cost to rent 70 years ago? Now’s your chance to find out. In partnership with Archives.com, the U.S. National Archives released Census records from 1940 online on April 2—comprising 3.8 million images scanned from some 4,000 rolls of microfilm.

The website offers access to maps and hand-written info about every known address in all 48 states in the Union, allowing you to find census maps and descriptions to locate an enumeration district, browse census images to locate any household interviewed in the 1940 Census and then save and/or download images. The Search page is here.

Warning: The site is slow, if not clunky, as hundreds of thousands are discovering this fascinating window to the past all at once. It’s also a bit unnerving to navigate. The best tutorial I found is at Gawker.com here.

Happy hunting! Be sure to share anything revealing with all your friends here on the BHB. We’ll also be scouring for tidbits over the next several weeks.

(Image: Gawker.com)

On Wednesday, April 4, Mil’s Trills—an interactive series of live performances for grown-ups with babies & toddlers ages 0-4—will host Ray Belli on the Tabla (a traditional Indian drum) at Vineapple, 71 Pineapple Street (between Henry and Hicks streets). Time is 10 a.m., with $15 admission for adults. Your hosts invite attendees to participate by bringing shakers, blankets and instruments of choice.

Led by Amelia Robinson—who plays original, quirky and whimsical songs on her electric ukulele and hosts a rotating cast of musical guests— Mil’s Trills’ shows highlight a new, often rare, instrument and a hand-selected book brought to life through an improvised soundtrack. Mil’s Trills is a cooperative effort to support local businesses and artists in the community and to make music accessible to all.

For info visit milstrills.com—and stay tuned to BHB for more upcoming Brooklyn-area events.

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Spring Fling will be held tomorrow (Saturday, March 31) from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in the vicinity of Jane’s Carousel. Admission is free; there will be lots of activities for kids and parents, live band performances, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Bunny.

On Sunday, April 1, starting at 2:00 p.m., Colm Tóibín and Mick Moloney will discuss Irish fiction and fact at the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton). Admission is free for BHS members, $6 for adults; $4 for seniors over 62, students over 12 (college students must show ID) and teachers; and free for children under 12.

You’ve got to see it to believe it. Situated over an entire square block, Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn is constructed from recycled shipping containers converted into 60+ food & retail shops that frame a space for outdoor events and programs.

The 2012 season launches Saturday April 7, at 138 Willoughby Street and the Flatbush Avenue Extension, offering a cornucopia of art, music, food & film events, as well as the new Dekalb outdoor performance and event space, a permanent beer & wine garden, “The Dekalb Farm” and 60 stores & food shops and outdoor weekend vendors, all “set against the gritty-cool urban backdrop of downtown Brooklyn.”

For the launch Dekalb Spring Weekender, Saturday and Sunday, April 7-8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., come one and all for a noon Easter Egg Hunt, $1 Mimosas (until 2 p.m.), and live music by Michael Arenella & his Dreamland Orchestra, and Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens. Also: Flower and Garden Market, face painting, woodshop projects and a jewelry workshop, crafting bike maintenance, and circuits & electronics. Cooking, farming and gardening workshops and classes for adults and children will be presented by Family Cooks.

The regular Dekalb Market Hours are seven days a week, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. During the season, events will also include dance parties, free open-air markets, unique foodie events, bike-in movie nights, lobster boils, roller derbies, an ongoing series of special live music performances and 45+ vendors.

Dekalb Market was voted Best New York Architecture in 2011 by the New York Observer.

Congratulations! You just beat the 1 in 1.75 billion odds of winning the Publisher’s Clearinghouse $10 million dollar sweepstakes! Your family, friends—and all of us starving writers here at the Brooklyn Heights Blog—couldn’t be happier for your wondrous luck. For the sake of this exercise, let’s pretend the feds are going to award you the entire kitty. $10M in your pocket. So now what?

* As a Brooklyn Heights resident, would you relocate? * As a wealthy individual, is there somewhere else you’d rather live? * Would you maintain your primary digs in the Heights and buy a second home elsewhere? * Take a load off and let’s fantasize, for the sake of sharing… Is Brooklyn Heights already your dream destination, or are you cashing in your booty for a new locale? Do tell…

(Collage: Chuck Taylor)

Filming for a New York Lottery commercial continued throughout the afternoon Tuesday March 20, in front of Banana Republic at 133 Montague Street. This morning, Heights resident Rick Elkin shared with BHB that the action was focused on a vehicle with smashed windshield and a felled lamp-post. Ouch!

By mid-afternoon, the storyboard had evolved to a crowd of zombies collected around the shiny new newspaper vendor site in front of City Chemist at 129 Montague (with a car now completely overturned), apparently consumed with deadly desire to purchase NYC lottery tix. Meanwhile, a mob of ghoulish extras sat along Henry Street in front of NY Kids Club, waiting their turn as the action progressed.

At least a hundred or so locals gathered at the corner of Montague and Henry to gaze upon the zombie spectacle by 5 p.m., armed with cell phone cams, amid a spirited, accommodating crew. Below the jump, see a half-dozen pics from the zombie-fest.

(Photos: Chuck Taylor)

The Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee will hold its annual Spring Egg Hunt at Pierrepont Playground (Pierrepont Street and Columbia Heights) on Saturday, April 7, starting at 10:00 a.m. Heather White, of the Playground Committee, says:

The Spring Egg Hunt is an annual tradition for many families, organized and funded by the all volunteer BHPC, and we need your support to keep it going.

If you are interested in helping with the Spring Egg Hunt, please email me at heatherdianawhite@gmail.com. We need people to help hide the eggs, donate items to the bake sale, man the bake sale table and clean up. Helping with these events is FUN and a great way to connect with other parents in our amazing community. Just one hour of your time would be greatly appreciated!

If you wish to donate to the Playground Committee, you can do so through the Committee’s website.

Photo: The Seasonal Home.

Brooklyn Bridge Park has two events coming up on Saturday, March 31: Its family-oriented Spring Fling and the annual Eileen C. Dugan Memorial 5K race.

First up: Spring Fling takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Empire Fulton Ferry section of the park. Admission is free, and includes egg decorating, music, dancing, yoga, face painting, storytelling and an egg roll. The Wiyos will perform at 10:30 a.m., and Audrarox at noon. More info is here.

Partners for the event include the New York Transit Museum, Metro Soccer NY, Jacques Torres, Inventgenuity Workshops, Jane’s Carousel, Karma Kids Yoga and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Bldg. 92. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Bunny will also be on premises.

Second is the 14th Eileen C. Dugan Memorial 5K race, which begins at 9 a.m., with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. The starting and finishing points are by Jane’s Carousel in the Empire Fulton Ferry section of the park.

This is the first year the popular 5K will be run in Brooklyn Bridge Park: The course is a scenic 5K route (3.1 miles) spanning the park with its views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Manhattan skyline and the NYC harbor. The race is limited to 200 participants, and advance registration ($25) is recommended. More info here.

P.S. 8, our local public elementary (and soon to be middle as well) school will hold its Spring Gala on Friday, March 23, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m, at the Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO, at 37 Main Street (corner of Water). There will be cocktails, hors d’ouevres, and both live and silent auctions. Amy Klein, the P.S. 8 parent in charge of the auctions, says:

We have over 200 items, really great stuff this year, including sporting tickets, jewelry, restaurants, summer camps, and some great unique experiences. Of course all the funds will go toward paying for teachers’ aides, enrichment, things that other schools might take for granted.

All are invited. The admission is $58 for an individual, $108 for a couple if reserved in advance (go to www.ps8brooklyn.org/spring benefit to reserve or for more information) or $88 per person at the door. There will also be an online-only auction of tickets to the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in L.A. If interested, go here.

Yesterday, Borough President Marty Markowitz hosted a Dine in Brooklyn (details on this forthcoming event are in Chuck Taylor’s post) preview tasting for the press at Borough Hall, and Karl, his cam, and your correspondent were there. Results: some taste thrills, two full tummies (yes, Karl did his share of eating, too), and a splattered shirt. Video after the jump.

The annual “Dine in Brooklyn,” the borough’s own restaurant week, takes place Monday March 19 through Thursday March 29, offering close to 200 venues with Prix Fixe pricing: $25 for dinner and $20.12 (get it?) for lunch.

In Brooklyn Heights, participating venues are: Armando’s Restaurant, 143 Montague Street; Bevacco, 60 Henry Street; Caffe Buon Gusto, 151 Montague; Eamonn’s, 174 Montague; Heights Cafe, 84 Montague; Oh My Pasta, 142 Montague; and Queen Ristorante, 84 Court Street.

Check out the full list of participating restaurants at VisitBrooklyn.org.

Thanks to the success of its “$25 Stuff-A-Sack” event last weekend, the Underground Thrift Store at Plymouth Church has extended its Winter Clearance Sale on Sunday, March 4. Hours are 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Location: 65 Hicks Street, between Orange and Cranberry.

Shoppers can purchase as many $25 Underground Thrift Store Totes (a $5 value) as they like and stuff them full with the Thrift’s designer clothing for women, men and children. You can also purchase individual items for 50% off the original price.

Check out the Plymouth Church Underground Thrift Store Facebook page here.

It’s going to take a good long time to tidy up Brooklyn Heights’ Montague Terrace with this street-cleaning mechanism, observed curbside early Wednesday morning on trash day. Then again, given Brooklyn council members futzing with a city-funded street-cleaning program last summer, it may one day come to this.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

Dive in—or, uh, at least wade—Brooklyn Heights: Officials overseeing the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park are planning to install a temporary pool in the Pier 2 uplands section of the green space this summer. According to a story in today’s New York Post, the 30-by-50-foot pool will be above ground, 3½-feet deep across, fully decked and remain there for five glorious years. Park officials estimate the cost of building the temp structure at around $150,000.

Murmurs surfaced last June about a pool being added to Brooklyn Bridge Park, although it appears to be quite different than that original plan.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn) told the Post, “I’ve long said the pool is a major priority for the park, and now the community can dive right in.” He spearheaded a deal last summer—that also includes the politically charged back-and-forth realization of high-rise housing located toward the DUMBO end of BBP.

This will not be a floating pool barge like the one that docked in the park in 2007, although Squadron says he is gunning to bring a permanent pool to BBP.

On a chilly, rainy night, enough people showed up at Waterfront Wines & Spirits for the “Drink Local” tasting event for the benefit of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy to fill the store. In the photo, Brooklyn Oenology owner Alie Sharper pours a sample of Social Club White. Tasting notes after the jump.

Brooklyn Oenology’s “Social Club White”: Ms. Sharper uses locally sourced New York State grown grapes, and the current edition of SCW is from chardonnay grown on Long Island’s North Fork. It has forward fruit without oakiness; overall a smooth and well-balanced white.

Brooklyn Oenology’s “Motley Cru” Red: a blend of New York grown grapes, with some varietals characteristic of Bordeaux and others of the Rhone Valley. The mix works well; good berry flavor without being cloying, and some tannic structure without being astringent.

Breuckelen Distilling’s “Glorious Gin”: made with neutral spirit distilled from grain grown upstate. The addition of selected botanicals yields a gin with pleasant hints of juniper bitterness, citrus acidity, ginger and rosemary spice.

New York Distilling Company’s “Dorothy Parker American Gin”: unlike its namesake, this gin is subdued and smooth. It would mix well with just about anything.

New York Distilling Company’s “Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin”: named for a former Commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, this is truly the Popeye the Sailor of Gins, packing a peppery punch. It made an interesting gin-and-tonic with lime; I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be good in a Bloody Mary.

Brooklyn Republic Vodka: I remarked to owner Kary Laskin that this was the most neutral vodka I’d ever tasted, and she nodded appreciatively. Obviously a good ingredient for mixed drinks; also enjoyable on its own.

I had earlier predicted an appearance by Steven and Vanessa. During the course of the evening, I encountered two Steves, but despite an informal poll of women present (a not unpleasant task) I couldn’t find a Vanessa. If you were there, please let me know.

This (Friday) evening, from 6:00 to 8:00, Drink Local, a tasting of Brooklyn-made spirits and wines at Waterfront Wines & Spirits, on the Joralemon street side of One Brooklyn Bridge Park (go down Joralemon, cross under the BQE, cross Furman Street, and it’s on your left). Admission and tasting is free; proceeds of any bottles you buy go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. More details here.

Tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, from 1:30 to 3:00, Theater 2020 presents a reading (not a full-dress performance) of a comedy-in-progress, Lady Susan or the Captive Heart, a Jane Austen Bodice Ripper, at the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Cadman Plaza West and Tillary Street. More details here.

The Plymouth Church Underground Thrift Store, which celebrated its grand opening in October 2011, is holding its First Annual “Stuff-a-Sack” Winter Clearance Sale this Sunday, February 26. The one-day event takes place at 65 Hicks Street, between Orange and Cranberry, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Shoppers can purchase as many $25 Underground Thrift Store Totes (a $5 value) as they like and stuff them with its inventory of winter clothing for women, men and children. The Thrift also offers a heap of bric-a-brac.

Jeannette King, Underground Thrift Store Manager, tells BHB that 25% of all net proceeds are donated to organizations that fight modern-day slavery—a cause that is relevant to Plymouth Church’s long-lived history.

There’s more on the Plymouth Church Underground Thrift Store Facebook page here.